This Mama Cooks! On a Diet™

Healthy French Toast from Everyday Health’s Recipe Rehab

2012-05-18T19:16:24Z

Are you planning to make French Toast this weekend? It's a favorite of my kids, especially when their Nana is visiting and offers to make it for them. I let her even though I know it’s not the healthiest dish to serve them. After all, grandmas should be allowed to indulge their grandkids once in awhile, right?

Luckily for us, Chef Jill and Chef Aida are back in the kitchen for Everyday Health rehabbing a recipe from the Melvin family. You can watch the full episode below or watch individual demonstrations by Chef Jill here or Chef Aida here.

I’m going to have to agree with the Melvins that Chef Jill’s “no-tella” French toast sandwich was a clear winner. I liked how she used almond butter, cocoa powder and agave nectar to make a healthier version of Nutella. Plus, having a layer of that yummy goodness and topping it off with the strawberries took her French toast recipe to a whole other level.

Both chefs used low fat Greek yogurt and almond milk – both terrific choices – but I would have liked to see them using whole grain bread instead of French baguette and sourdough.

Recipe Rehab episodes air every Friday at 1 ET on the Everyday Health YouTube .

The nutritional breakdowns

ORIGINAL RECIPE

NUTRITION FACTS

Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 769

Total Fat: 39.85g

Cholesterol: 263mg

Sodium: 390mg

Total Carbs: 80.01g

Dietary Fiber: 3.73g

Sugars: 54.48g

Protein: 17.59g

CHEF AIDA

NUTRITION FACTS

Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 512

Total Fat: 11.24g

Cholesterol: 1mg

Sodium: 998mg

Total Carbs: 82.10g

Dietary Fiber: 5.56g

Sugars: 22.09g

Protein: 17.25g

CHEF JILL

NUTRITION FACTS

Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 404

Total Fat: 13.52g

Cholesterol: --

Sodium: 453mg

Total Carbs: 54.22g

Dietary Fiber: 10.24g

Sugars: 13.60g

Protein: 16.74g

Original French Toast recipe

Used 1 cup full fat whole milk
Used 4 whole eggs, with yolks
Used 3 tablespoons brown sugar
Used 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Used 1/4 cup butter
Uses 8 thick slices bread
Used 1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread
Used 1/2 cup whipped cream
Used 1/2 cup maple syrup

Aida’s French Toast recipe

Swapped whole milk for unsweetened almond milk
Used 4 egg whites instead of whole eggs
Used unrefined sugar instead of brown and powdered
Eliminated butter
Kept bread the same
Instead of chocolate hazelnut spread – used real hazelnuts and cocoa powder
Swapped whipped cream for lowfat Greek yogurt
Eliminated maple syrup
Baked instead of fried

Jill’s French Toast recipe

Swapped whole milk for unsweetened almond milk
Used 4 egg whites instead of whole eggs
Used agave instead of brown and powdered sugars
Eliminated butter
Added strawberries to bulk up nutrition
Instead of chocolate hazelnut spread – used almond butter and cocoa powder
Make stuffed French toast sandwiches and used nonstick spray in cast iron skillet to “griddle” instead of fry
Swapped whipped cream for lowfat Greek yogurt

Picture, video and nutritional information courtesy of Everyday Health.

Healthy French Toast from Everyday Health’s Recipe Rehab is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop! giveaway

2012-05-18T14:17:11Z

As part of the Healthy Snacking Challenge, we’ve swapped out Orville Redenbacher SmartPop! for our usual after school snacks. I’m doing this to encourage my family as well as my readers to snack smarter.

Here’s why:

snacking on 100-calories of low-fat healthy popcorn leads to less hunger and more satisfaction versus other snacks like almonds or pretzels
popcorn is a good source of fiber, which fills you up and makes you feel less hungry
Orville Redenbacher SmartPop! is low in fat and has zero grams of trans fats
it’s also low in calories – just 100 calories for six cups
one SmartPop! Bowl has 240 calories from 15 cups of popcorn. So if you go nuts and eat the whole thing, which I did the other day, it’s not going to pack on the pounds
popcorn is a whole grain snack – just three cups of Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! provides an entire serving of whole grain

My family and I have enjoyed this challenge because it’s been easy – and delicious – to do! It’s also a way to get the kids outside, because I don’t let them eat popcorn indoors most of the time. Too messy!

Check out the Orville Redenbacher’s Facebook page for a $1 off coupon

Try the Healthy Snacking Challenge yourself!

I’m giving away five boxes of Orville Redenbacher SmartPop! – one box each to five winners.

Here’s how to enter:

Tell me in the comments below, what besides popcorn, is your favorite healthy snack.

You have until midnight MST on Friday, May 25, 2012 to enter.

ONE winner will be chosen at random. You must be willing to send me your full name and mailing address by May 29, 2012, so I can pass it on to Mom Central Consulting. They will mail out your box of Orville Redenbacher SmartPop!

I’ll announce the winner on this blog. I won't share your mailing info with the public, just your name. If you have a blog, I’ll link back to it when I announce the winner.

The giveaway is valued at approximately $4 per box and is only open to legal residents of the United States, 18 years of age and older. No purchase required. Odds of winning based on number of entries. ONE entry per person. FIVE boxes of Orville Redenbacher SmartPop! will be given away. Void where prohibited by law.

By submitting your name and email address, you agree to receive relevant promotional emails and contest follow up communications from This Mama Cooks! On a Diet in compliance with my privacy policy and giveaway rules.

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Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Orville Redenbacher's and received Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! products and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop! giveaway is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Right on target with the California Wine Club {10% off coupon code}

2012-05-18T00:17:57Z

Have you ever bought a bottle of wine and taken it home to drink, just to be disappointed? I had that experience recently after picking up a bottle of Malbec that looked “interesting” – it was downright awful and I ended up pouring most of it down the drain.

I never have that issue with wines I received from my California Wine Club Premier Membership. Sure there are wines that I like betters than others, but I’ve never been disappointed. That’s how I felt with this month’s selections from the Fess Parker Winery.

Who’s Fess Parker?

You’re probably wondering why I have a picture Davy Crockett in this post instead of something wine related. Well, it was Fess Parker, the founder of the Fess Parker Winery, who played Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955–56 TV mini-series. To this day I remember the theme song, “Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier!” Fess also played Daniel Boone in a TV show that aired in the ‘60s.

Fess passed away in 2010, but his family still runs the winery along with the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa.

Falling in love with California Rieslings

I’ve never liked Riesling because it’s too sweet. However, after a trip to Honolulu where I had an amazing California Riesling at BLT Steak, I’ve changed my mind. So when I received a bottle of Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards 2010 Santa Barbara County Riesling I was hoping that lighting would strike twice. It did and now I’m hooked.

Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards 2010 Santa Barbara County Riesling features exotic aromas and flavors of white flowers, lychee nut, lemon rind, yellow peach, passion fruit and honeydew melon. It’s extremely food-friendly and goes well with fish, chicken and lighter fare. (I had it with fish one night and an omelet the other.) It received 89 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (August 2011) and 88 points and Editor’s Choice from Wine Enthusiast (April 2012).

This is a wine to chill and sip on the back deck on a warm evening with friends or family. It retails for $17.99 and California Wine Club offers it for $10.99. It’s a wine I’d stock up on since it keeps up to three years. Maybe I’ll order a case when we move to Georgia. With two decks and a front porch, I’m planning to do a lot of my wine drinking outdoors!

All aboard Parker Station

After that nasty Malbec, I was looking forward to trying a wine that would restore my faith in reds. This month’s Calfornia Wine Club selection was a Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards 2010 Parker Station Pinot Noir didn’t disappoint. Parker Station Pinot Noir features fragrances of cherry, strawberry, earth, forest floor, cinnamon and vanilla dance with cherry, cranberry, strawberry and vanilla flavors. I had pizza one night and seared tuna with it the next. It’s a lovely, basic Pinot Noir that’s great with food. It retails for $26 and California Wine Club offers it for $12.99.

Special deal for This Mama Cooks! On a Diet readers

Use code mamacooks to get 10% off any gift orders you place with The California Wine Club.

Also, if you want to try a Premier Membership for yourself, use code mamacooks to get 10% off your first month as well as an extra bottle of wine in your first shipment. (Three bottles in all!) There’s no obligation to continue past the first month.

Also, the California Wine Club is offering $1 shipping on every case of award-winning wine. Click here for the details. (Ends June 8, 2012.)

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Disclosure: I received wine from California Wine Club to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Right on target with the California Wine Club {10% off coupon code} is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Cooking with Coca-Cola®– Coca Cola Carne Asada Marinade

2012-05-16T23:29:35Z

In a little more than a week, my family and I leave Colorado to go to the heart of Coca-Cola country – Georgia. It’s where people pronounce Coke “Co’Cola” and they ask you if you want a Coke when they really mean if you want a drink. When we were out in Athens house hunting, our real estate agent, Alicia, would treat us to mini glass bottles of Diet Coke. She said they traditionally kept glass bottles on hand because the agency’s founder liked them. The kids loved it and I thought it was charming.

Well, this spring (until May 31) Coca-Cola wants to help gather your family around the dinner table with Coke with Meals through My Coke Rewards. The site features recipes and how-to videos from Chefs G. Garvin and Ingrid Hoffmann. You can also submit your own recipes to inspire others. You can check it out at MyCokeRewards.com/meals, where you can also create a shareable cookbook of your family’s all-time favorites, and read and share how to get kids, pre-teens and teens involved in the kitchen.

Eating healthy with Coca-Cola

While MyCokeRewards.com/meals does feature Southern classics like Georgia Drop Biscuits and BBQ Pork and Beans with Coca-Cola® BBQ Sauce, there are healthy choices too like Shrimp and Scallop Easy Paella and Asparagus Soup. Yes, some recipes contain Coca-Cola as an ingredient, like Coca-Cola Rice or Pork Loin with Coca-Cola® BBQ Sauce. However, many are just meant to be paired with an ice cold Coke (or in my case an ice cold Coke Zero) like Lime Chicken with Quick Avocado Salsa.

Cooking with Coca-Cola Southern (California) style

While I may be moving to the South, my culinary heart is actually back in Southern California much of the time as I love Baja style. One thing we’ll be bringing with me are two carne asada recipes. The one I consider the Best Carne Asada Marinade features vinegar and citrus juice. However, the one my brother-in-law uses features Coca-Cola. Feel free to substitute Coke Zero if you’re watching your calories.

Coca-Cola Carne Asada Marinade

Serves 4 to 6 (one pound per person)

Ingredients:

4 to 6 pounds of skirt or flank steak
1 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
2 lemons, juiced (slice and keep the peels)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can of Coke

Directions:

Mix up the ingredients, add the meat, and put in a sealed container or sealed bag for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator.
To cook, place the meat on the grill and when the juices start to rise on the surface, sprinkle with table salt. (You’re salting the meat on the grill, not while you’re marinating it.)
When the salt dissolves on the surface of the meat, flip it over and repeat on the other side. (Carne asada is supposed to be on the salty side, but don’t go nuts with the salt.)
Grill meat until well done. Remove from grill and place meat on a carving board.
Cut the meat with a sharp knife across the grain into thin strips.
Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa, lime juice, shredded cheese, avocado slices or guacamole, chopped red onion, and lime juice.

Diet Coke picture by niallkennedy on Flickr. Carne Asada picture by Poncho Equihua on Flickr.

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this post. All opinions expressed are my own and not those of Coca-Cola.

Cooking with Coca-Cola®– Coca Cola Carne Asada Marinade is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Goat Cheese Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Baby Greens and Balsamic Reduction #glutenfree #HollandHouseCW

2012-05-16T20:53:31Z

I’m crazy about balsamic vinegar reduction as a sauce on anything from roasted vegetables to fish. Drizzling it on food makes an ordinary dish burst with flavor and adds a little elegance to boot. Plus, it’s so easy to make. In this recipe, I used Holland House balsamic vinegar, brought it to a boil on the stove top, and then simmered it until it was reduced by half. Easy!

This pizza recipe is inspired by a gluten free pizza I had at Udi’s PIzza Café Bar in Arvada, Colorado and a Caramelized Onion & Fig Mini Pizza I had when I visited the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter test kitchen back in 2010.

I made this gluten free using Udi’s Gluten Free pizza crusts. If you’re not gluten free, feel free to use whatever pizza crusts you wish. Or you can make your own using my healthy whole wheat pizza dough recipe.

Goat Cheese Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Baby Greens and Balsamic Reduction

Makes 1 personal sized pizza

Serves 2 as an appetizer or 1 as an entrée

Ingredients:

2 cups Holland House balsamic vinegar
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons low saturated fat, buttery spread
1 premade pizza crust
2 ounces goat cheese
12 ounces baby greens
2 teaspoons pine nuts

Directions:

Pour balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. (Make sure to watch carefully to avoid a messy boil over.)
Quickly reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered until vinegar is reduced by half and thickens slightly.
While your balsamic vinegar is reducing, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add buttery spread to skillet to melt.
Add onions and reduce heat to medium. Slowly sauté onions until they turn slightly brown and are caramelized. Be careful not to burn onions. Reduce heat and add more buttery spread if needed. When onions are done, remove skillet from stove top and set aside.
Set oven to 425 degrees F.
Place pizza crust on a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Using a spreader or offset spatula, spread a thin, even layer of goat cheese on pizza crust. If goat cheese is too hard to spread, put it in the microwave on high for 10 seconds to soften.
Add an even layer of baby greens on top of the goat cheese layer.
Carefully sprinkle pine nuts evenly over pizza.
Cook for 10-12 minutes until greens start to wilt and pizza crust and cheese are heated through.
Remove pizza from oven and drizzle balsamic vinegar over it. Apply a light or heavy drizzle depending on your individual taste.
Slice pizza and serve.

Note: Leftover balsamic vinegar can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks and reheated slightly to drizzle on vegetables, fish, chicken, beef and more!

Win a meal makeover from the Meal Makeover Moms and Holland House

Interested in getting an opportunity to talk with the Meal Makeover Moms about your mealtime challenges, have a favorite dinner recipe made over, and win a new set of cookware? If so you may want to enter the Holland House/Meal Makeover Moms Sweepstakes.

The sweepstakes is running through the beginning of June. All you need to do is go to the Holland House Facebook page, like it and then enter the contest.

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Disclosure: Mizkan, the parent company of Holland House, provided compensation for this post. All opinions are my own

Goat Cheese Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Baby Greens and Balsamic Reduction #glutenfree #HollandHouseCW is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

How to throw a seafood boil outdoor summer bash

2012-05-16T17:26:47Z

One summer bash I’ll never forget was a coworker’s crawfish boil party. Dennis and his roommates had 100 pounds of crawfish flown into Denver from Louisiana for the party and kept it in the bathroom tub on ice along with a few lobsters a few guests had brought. Each guest was asked to bring beer and $10 to share in costs.

Decorating was simple. On each newspaper draped table, there were large baguettes of French bread, butter, salt and pepper shakers, a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce, and a roll of paper towels. Once a batch was done, they would dump a mess of crawfish and corn on the tables. We’d stand around eating, pushing the used corn husks and crawfish shells to one side. Once everything was consumed, we’d gather up the newspapers, and throw the whole thing in the trash.

They used an outdoor propane burner to cook up the crawfish, and as the day went on the crawfish kept getting hotter and hotter due to the addition of more spices. We drank a lot of beer to cool off and had a great time.

If you’d like to throw a crawfish boil party, check out How to Host a Crawfish Boil Party on ehow.com for a comprehensive guide along with some tips on how to find a live crawfish delivery service online.

A campground seafood boil summer bash

Since we spend much of our summer weekends RV camping, we do a smaller version of the crawfish boil. Instead of crawfish, we buy seafood at the grocery store on the way to the campgrounds and split the purchase with friends.

We usually do this on 4th of July weekend since that’s also when we celebrate my husband’s birthday. However, we did something similar with just lobster and shrimp for my mother-in-law’s birthday. Nothing like fine dining when you’re camping!

Seafood Boil with Corn and Potatoes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Shrimp Boil with Corn and Potatoes

Serves 6

Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 lemons, halved
6 bay leaves
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
2 large garlic heads, halved horizontally
6 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 dried chilies
Coarse salt
16 springs fresh thyme, tied together with kitchen twine
1 pound clams
1 pound mussels
2 pounds of new red potatoes, unpeeled, halved if large
8 ears fresh corn, shucked and broken in half
2 pounds tail on shrimp, uncooked (frozen is o.k.)
6 lobster tails, uncooked (frozen is o.k.)
Butter, hot sauce and French bread for serving

Directions:

Fill a large stockpot with 4 quarts of water. Squeeze lemons into water and add rinds.
Add bay leaves, seasoning, garlic, onions, chilies, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and thyme.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
Add potatoes and simmer 12 minutes.
Add corn and simmer 5 minutes.
Add shrimp, lobster, clams and mussels to pot. Cover, and simmer until lobster is opaque, about 5 minutes.
Pour off liquid and serve out of the pot.
Serve with melted butter and/or hot sauce.
Squeeze and spread the cooked garlic on French bread.
Serve the corn and potatoes with butter and salt and pepper.

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Orbit® gum via Glam Media but such compensation did not influence any opinions expressed herein. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Orbit® gum.

How to throw a seafood boil outdoor summer bash is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Healthy Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash with Quinoa #secretrecipeclub #glutenfree

2012-05-13T03:46:44Z

I cannot believe we’re moving to Athens, Georgia in less than two weeks! We’re trying to cut down on the amount of stuff to pack, so the kids and I are in the process of consuming all the foodstuffs we can. That’s why I discovered one last package of venison in the freezer. Surprisingly it was stew meat, which was perfect to make Crock-Pot Hungarian Goulash from Heather of Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment!

Yes, another slow cooker recipe for the Secret Recipe Club post. This is the third in a row after last month’s Healthy Slow Cooker Hoppin’ John and March’s Healthy Slow Cooker Pumpkin and Bean Chili. Hope you don’t mind, but when you have a small kitchen like I do in my temporary Boulder apartment, a slow cooker comes in handy!

I only made a few changes to Heather’s recipe. To make it gluten free, I used starch instead of flour and served it on quinoa instead of egg noodles. I also used coconut palm sugar instead of brown sugar ,, sea salt instead of regular table salt, and smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. Feel free to use whatever substitutes you wish depending on your food sensitivities and what you have on hand.

Healthy Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash

Print
Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds lean stew meat (beef or venison), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon corn or rice starch
2 cups cooked quinoa

Directions

Place the meat in a 5 quart slow cooker and cover with the sliced onion.
Combine the garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, coconut palm sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and dry mustard. Stir in the water and mix well. Then pour mixture over the meat in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. If mixture gets dry, add more water (1/2 cup at a time).
Just before serving, remove a couple of tablespoons of liquid from the slow cooker and put into a small bowl. Add corn or rice starch and stir until dissolved. Pour starch mixture into the slow cooker and stir until goulash thickens.
Spoon goulash over quinoa and serve.

Prep Time: 15 - 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 6 - 8 Hours

Total Time: 6:15 - 8 Hours 20 Minutes

Nutrition Grade B+ from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 8

Servings: Serves 6

Calories: 412
Calories from Fat: 46
Total Fat: 5.1g
Saturated fat: 5g
Unsaturated fat: .1g
Sodium: 681mg
Total Carbohydrates: 46.7g
Sugar: 8.5g
Fiber: 4.5g
Protein: 41.7g

More from the Secret Recipe Club!

Want to join the Secret Recipe Club? You can sign up here.

Healthy Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash with Quinoa #secretrecipeclub #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

How to save more money on your favorite gluten-free and healthy foods #gfcommunity

2012-05-13T16:50:08Z

I recently started a discussion, More Ways to Save When Buying Gluten Free Foods – Buying in Bulk, at the Udi’s Gluten Free Community. Some of my tips included shopping at warehouse stores and asking for case discounts at your favorite health food store.

I also mentioned Amazon's Subscribe & Save service, and wanted to make sure you knew about it as well.

Amazon’s Subscribe & Save

With Amazon's Subscribe & Save, you can get 5 to 15% off and free shipping on automatic monthly deliveries. All you need to do is select an eligible item, choose a quantity and delivery schedule, then create your subscription. (In most cases you can choose to have deliveries every month, every two months, etc., up to once every six moths.) Easy!

Afterwards, Amazon will automatically place your orders and deliver them to you at the interval you select. You can easily change the flavor or size of an item, skip a delivery, or get an extra delivery when you need it. In addition, there are no commitments, obligations, or fees and you can cancel a subscription at any time.

I love Amazon's Subscribe & Save because it help me purchase healthy and gluten free foods that I normally buy at a better price than I get at my grocery store. For the harder to find items, I don’t have to spend time driving to far away health food stores either.

However, using Amazon's Subscribe & Save does mean that I have to buy in bulk most of the time, but that’s OK because I have the storage room to do so. If you don’t, trying going “halfsies” with a friend, coworker or family member.

Some of my favorite Subscribe & Save products

What other ways do you save on gluten free products?

How else do you save on gluten free products? Let’s discuss below at Udi’s Gluten Free Community!

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Disclosure: As a Udi's Gluten Free Community Leader I'm compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

How to save more money on your favorite gluten-free and healthy foods #gfcommunity is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Grilled Fish Moco with Spicy Tropical Fruit Salsa

2012-05-12T21:18:26Z

When I was in Hawaii earlier this month, my husband and I had breakfast at Sam Choy’s Breakfast Lunch and Crab restaurant in Honolulu. Wanting to try local fish dishes, I chose the Fresh Catch Moco, grilled mahi mahi served in a bowl with rice with shitake mushroom gravy, grilled onions and one large farm fresh egg. (It’s the fish version of the Hawaiian loco moco, which is a hamburger patty served over rice, topped with a fried egg, grilled sweet onions and brown gravy.) I loved the idea of having fish and an egg on rice for breakfast, but this would make a great dinner entrée, too.

While I the mushroom gravy was delicious, I felt the recipe needed some healthing up, This Mama Cooks! On a Diet style. So, instead of white rice, I chose black because it’s sweet and rather dramatic looking. (If you can’t find black rice at your supermarket or local health food store, brown rice is a good substitute.)

My next step was to substitute a spicy tropical fruit salsa for the gravy. I also eliminated the grilled onions to minimize the amount of fat used in the recipe. Instead, I used just a little coconut oil to coat the fish, and kept the salt to a minimum. I kept the whole egg, but using egg whites would be a healthier option.

Finally, a note on the fish. I used cabrilla (the Mexican name for grouper or sea bass) that was given to me by a friend after his recent Mexican fishing trip. You can use any white, mild fish that grills well like snapper, mahi mahi, or tilapia.

You can find my step-by-step recipe for Grilled Fish Moco with Spicy Tropical Fruit Salsa at Foodie.com.

The Dole California Cook-Off Contest and Sweepstakes

I’ll be entering my Grilled Fish Moco with Spicy Tropical Fruit Salsa recipe in the Dole California Cook-Off Facebook Contest. My recipe used Dole Tropical Fruit in Plastic Jar. I like this product since it’s sweetened with fruit juice, not sugar. Also, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated until opened, which means you can keep a few jars in the cupboard when you need a healthy fruit snack.

If you have a grilling recipe that features a Dole product, you should enter it in the Dole California Cook-Off Facebook Contest, too! (Make sure to read the Official Rules for the recipe entry guidelines and requirements. There are some very specific rules you have to follow, so make sure to read them carefully before creating your recipe.) If you enter, you’ll have the chance to win a trip to Los Angeles where you’ll compete at The Grove in the 2012 Dole California Cook-Off judged by Celebrity Chef Ben Ford. In addition to the trip, the winning recipe contestant will also receive a cash prize of $10,000 and the two runners up will each receive a cash prize of$1,000!

If you’re not into cooking Dole California Cook-Off Facebook Sweepstakes to be a fan judge. All you need to do is enter your email address for a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles to be the Dole Fan Judge joining Chef Ben Ford and a distinguished panel of judges in crowning the winner of the 2012 Dole California Cook-Off. In addition to the trip, the sweepstakes winner will receive a cash prize of$500. (See the Official Rules here.)

Good luck!

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Dole via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Dole.

Grilled Fish Moco with Spicy Tropical Fruit Salsa is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Results from the Ziploc Fresh Eating Survey-Denver vs. Boston {Win a FreshOver Goodie Bag} #freshover

2012-05-18T14:36:23Z

As you know, I’ve teamed up with Ziploc to encourage Americans to eat more fresh. If you are a regular reader – you’ll notice, I’m already looking for ways to put a healthy spin on my family’s favorites. Earlier this year, ZiplocBrand partnered with best-selling author and TV personality Rachael Ray for the FreshOver Project, which includes the Ziploc Fresh Eating Survey – a city-by-city snapshot of food-related choices across America with insight into a metro area’s “freshness” ranking.

The ZiplocFresh Eating Survey gives an interesting look into the most and least fresh cities across America. The top 10 “freshest cities” have residents who seek out and eat the freshest food options available, through farmer’s markets and gardening habits. The least fresh cities are where residents face obstacles to eating fresh, such as a high prevalence of fast food options and a lack of fresh food resources.

Do some of the cities surprise you, like Boston, D.C. and Minneapolis? Me, too! Plus, I was surprised not to see Denver in the top 20 let alone the top 10, so I did a little digging.

(GIVEAWAY INFO AT THE END OF THE POST!)

A closer look at the data

I wanted to compare one of the high ranking cities, Boston, with my closest metro area, Denver, which came in at No. 31. Considering that Colorado is one of the healthiest and “skinniest” states in the U.S.in my opinion, I was surprised it was so low in the freshness rankings.

Survey – What time of day are you most likely to make poor or unhealthy food choices?

Denver-Aurora, Colo.
Breakfast: 10.3 percent
Lunch: 20.7 percent
Afternoon: 25.9 percent
Dinner: 10.3 percent
Late night: 32.8 percent

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H.
Breakfast: 10.7 percent
Lunch: 12.5 percent
Afternoon: 33.9 percent
Dinner: 14.3 percent
Late night: 28.6 percent

Amount of Farmers markets, CSAs and fast food establishments per city

Denver-Aurora, Colo. – rate per 100,000
Farmers Markets: 1.20
CSAs: 0.73
Fast Food estab: 52.4

Denver-Aurora, Colo. – total number
Farmers Markets: 31
CSAs: 19
Fast Food estab: 1355

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H. – rate per 100,000
Farmers Markets: 2.35
CSAs: 2.15
Fast Food estab: 62.0

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H. – total number
Farmers Markets: 107
CSAs: 98
Fast Food estab: 2822

Survey – How often do you eat foods containing fresh fruits and vegetables?

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H.
Rarely: 5.3 percent
1-2 days weekly: 8.8 percent
3-4 days weekly: 10.5 percent
5-6 days weekly: 8.8 percent
Every day: 66.7 percent

Denver-Aurora, Colo.
Rarely: 3.4 percent
1-2 days weekly: 15.3 percent
3-4 days weekly: 11.9 percent
5-6 days weekly: 11.9 percent
Every day: 57.6 percent

Percent of residents with a garden

Denver-Aurora, Colo. - 21.1 percent

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H. - 26.8 percent

I’m looking for more ways to incorporate fresh ingredients into my family’s meals.

Denver-Aurora, Colo.
Strongly agree: 59.6 percent
Somewhat agree: 26.9 percent
Neither agree nor disagree: 9.6 percent
Somewhat disagree: 1.9 percent
Strongly disagree: 1.9 percent

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H.
Strongly agree: 56.6 percent
Somewhat agree: 34.0 percent
Neither agree nor disagree: 7.5 percent
Somewhat disagree: 0.0 percent
Strongly disagree: 1.9 percent

I feel like a good parent when my family eats fresh food

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. – N.H.
81.1 percent: Strongly agree
10.8 percent: Somewhat agree
8.1 percent: Neither agree nor disagree
0.0 percent: Somewhat disagree
0.0 percent: Strongly disagree

Denver-Aurora, Colo.
80.0 percent: Strongly agree
11.1 percent: Somewhat agree
6.7 percent: Neither agree nor disagree
0.0 percent: Somewhat disagree
2.2 percent: Strongly disagree

Some quick conclusions

In Ziploc’s analysis, the categories were assigned the following weights, indicating the relative importance of each category:

Greater weight – Fruit and vegetable servings and percent with a vegetable garden
Medium weight – Farmers markets
Lesser weight – Eats fresh fruits and vegetables, wants to use more fresh ingredients, presence of CSAs, and presence of fast food establishments

Boston’s and Denver’s numbers were fairly close except for How often do you eat foods containing fresh fruits and vegetables? According to the survey, Boston eats more vegetables. I guess all the tomatoes served in Boston’s North End and the potatoes in the clam chowder count for something, right? (I’m being sarcastic. Well, a little.)

Still, results would be very different if they used the Boulder/Denver metro area instead of Aurora/Denver. The results would have been “fresher” as we all know how vegetarian and vegan friendly Boulder, Colo. is. Boulderites love their community gardens, locally sourced food, farmer’s markets, organic produce, and healthy grocery stores, for sure!

Win a Ziploc FreshOver Goodie Bag (value $130)!

Recently several of the FreshOver Insider 5 bloggers attended a FreshOver event in New York with Rachael Ray. (You can watch a video recap here.) I’m giving away another Ziploc prize pack complete with a cooking wok, garlic press and other cooking utensils, a bottle of Terra Medi Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a box of Ziploc Perfect Portions bags, a Ziploc VersaGlass container, and assorted other products in a Baggu bag.

How to enter to win a Ziploc FreshOver Event Good Bag (value $130):

In the comments below, tell me your favorite way to make a meal fresh (adding vegetables or fruits, etc.).
Sign up for This Mama Cooks! Review’s RSS feed for ONE additional entry.
Sign up for my enewsletter for ONE additional entry.
Spread the word about this giveaway by submitting a link to this post on Twitter for ONE additional entry. You must leave a link to your tweet in your comment so I can check.
Follow @amnichols on Twitter for ONE additional entry.

If you have done any of these additional activities you MUST come back here and leave a comment telling me what you did. I will be checking!

Giveaway starts on May 10, 2012 at noon PST and ends on May 17, 2012 at 5 p.m. PST

Click here for the Ziploc Giveaway Official Rules

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Disclosure: I have partnered with Ziploc^® and am being compensated for my posts. However, my opinions on the product are my own.

Results from the Ziploc Fresh Eating Survey-Denver vs. Boston {Win a FreshOver Goodie Bag} #freshover is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!